On August 20, 21 and 22, the Florida Apartment Association will
be presenting the Education Conference & Trade Show at
the Omni Orlando Resort at Champions Gate, This year, as
always, will be jam packed with great speakers, training events,
a huge trade show, and a golf tournament to benefit APAC, the
Apartment Political Action Committee. Each year this event gets
larger and better! It is a great time for all to learn from the
best, network among the leaders in the multi-family housing
industry, and have a great time.

The Early Termination Bill which deals with a
tenant vacating early and the remedies a landlord has is now law
and has resulted in much confusion among property managers.
Most landlords do not understand how the new law works, if they
must change their procedures, or if the new law is something
that is mandatory. More importantly, landlords need to know that
the use of this new law and remedy choice is optional, and
nothing has changed unless the landlord chooses to take
advantage of the law.Click hereto better
understand the Early Termination Law.

Now
more than ever you need to be sure you have done everything
correctly before filing an eviction. Besides the ever increasing
possibility of having to pay the attorneys’ fees of the tenant
if you lose a case and the tenant has an attorney, the one sure
thing you will have to pay now, no matter what, are vastly
increased “costs”. What are these costs? Did the filing fee just
get raised, or are there more “costs” to be concerned about?

The new law has created some unique issues when you are managing
a single family home, condo, duplex or triplex for a property
owner. Under the new law, if you use the Early Termination
Addendum, the tenant is able to make a choice as to what he or
she will owe if the lease is broken. If the tenant chooses
liquidated damages of 2 months’ rent, and the house is then
vacant for 4 months, the property owner may think he can pursue
the tenant for that rent. He cannot, IF the tenant chose the
liquidated damages. This may come as a compete surprise to an
owner who will then seek to hold the management company liable.Click hereto see how
the new law works with the single family home management.

Security
deposits are often a source of dispute between landlords and
tenants. The deposit should motivate the tenant to keep the
unit in good shape, and if needed, cushion the Landlord’s losses
if damage occurs. For the property manager, a keen
understanding of security deposits begins with the statute
itself. How well do you know it?

You prepare
your Three Day Notice and fill out the Certificate of Service
ahead of time in your office stating that you “posted the
notice” and you put today’s date in. You run out of time and
tomorrow go out and serve the notices. Two major problems.
First, you did not know how you were going to serve the notice,
so you should not have filled out the Certificate of Service
ahead of time, and second, your dates are now wrong. Remember,
the Certificate of Service need to be filled out on your
ORIGINAL, AFTER you serve the notice.

COMMERCIAL
LAW AND YOU
- Procedures as to Separating Out
the
Eviction Claim vs. Damages Claim in the Lease

A commercial
eviction usually has two facets. One is gaining possession for
the landlord, and the other is dealing with the money owed to
the landlord. Combining these two issues can often complicate
the eviction process and be detrimental to the commercial
landlord. Careful lease drafting can speed up the eviction
process and not have it bogged down with the money issues. These
can be taken care of later, after the tenant has been removed.
The key is separating the two issues properly.

Click hereforinfo on how to
separate the eviction and the damage claim through lease
drafting.

A
written policy is invaluable in dealing with various aspects of
property management. It not only guides staff, it reflects the
priorities of the landlord and promotes fair housing ideals. If
you think your business is too small to benefit from written
policies, think again.